Liberal Republican Union

The Liberal Republican Union (ULR) was a liberal-conservative political party of the French Third Republic which existed from 1889 to 1903. The ULR consisted of the right-wing of the Opportunist republican movement, led by Henri Barboux and Leon Say; they represented the rich bourgeoisie and Catholics. Meanwhile, the moderate wing of the republican movement formed the National Republican Association (ARN). The ULR constituted the parliamentary right-wing after the monarchists' decline during the end of the century, and they opposed the income tax and the separation of church and state. Following the collapse of Georges Boulanger's populist coalition, the ULR found itself supported by many farmers, Catholics, bankers, industrialists, lawyers, and journalists who had once supported Boulanger. The Dreyfus affair of the 1890s caused the ULR to splinter into Jules Meline's anti-Dreyfusard and anti-socialist faction and Barboux's pro-government liberals. In 1902, many of the conservative republicans joined the Popular Liberal Action party, while, in 1903, the remnants of the ULR and the ARN merged to form the liberal-conservative Republican Federation.